Splash247: Huawei rolls out AI planning stack for ports

Published by Splash247

Huawei has launched two new port technology solutions built around AI agents, taking its work with some of China’s largest terminals from individual automation projects into a broader planning and security platform.

The Chinese technology group unveiled its Port Intelligent Planning Solution and Intelligent Security Solution at Huawei Connect in Shanghai on September 16. The former links pilotage, berth allocation, quay crane deployment, yard planning and vessel stowage through a single scheduling layer.

At the centre is what Huawei calls an all-factor scheduling agent, designed to turn operational constraints and dispatcher experience into machine-generated plans covering the full terminal workflow.

Huawei claims the setup can cut planning from hours to minutes, with more than 90% of automatically generated plans accepted by operators. It also extends the planning horizon from three days to as much as one month. The performance figures are company data and have not been independently verified.

The security side uses a computer-vision large model trained on more than 1m port data points to monitor people, vehicles and cargo, including from cameras mounted more than 20 m above the terminal. Huawei puts recognition accuracy above 95%.

The new products build on live work with Shandong Port and Tianjin Port rather than a laboratory programme. Qingdao Port, part of Shandong Port Group, has identified 80 AI use cases across operations, safety and management. Its berth-planning agent combines 132 parameters and can generate a berthing plan in around 30 seconds, while an AI system monitoring bulk conveyor belts is being used to detect deviation, blockages and foreign objects.

Huawei and Shandong Port launched an earlier all-factor intelligent scheduling showcase in March, while its work with Tianjin has centred on automating horizontal transport without requiring terminals to separate autonomous and manually driven vehicles.

The Tianjin system uses roadside sensors and cloud scheduling to coordinate as many as 300 autonomous and conventional terminal vehicles. Huawei says intervention rates for autonomous trucks have fallen below 0.1%, with the architecture designed for retrofitting conventional container terminals without major civil works.

The technology is also beginning to move beyond China. Cameroon’s Port of Douala is working with local project developer Innovendi and Huawei on IoT infrastructure and an AI data layer for its smart-port programme. Huawei said this week it now serves more than 100 ports worldwide.

Qingdao has already become a proving ground for wider port automation. In February, the battery-electric feeder Zhi Fei completed an end-to-end unmanned container operation there, combining autonomous navigation and berthing with automated vacuum mooring, terminal cranes and guided vehicles.

The latest launch effectively packages technology developed through those individual projects into products Huawei can take to other terminal operators.